That Daisy

 

So I was already in bed, had been for about a half hour. I hear a dog barking from the front porch. It sounded like Daisy. But it couldn't be Daisy because I don't let her out the front door. I thought it must be the little neighbor Yorkie who sometimes gets out of his fence and comes to visit. So I got up, sure it would be Milo, and low and behold, it's Daisy. She must have snuck out whilst I was carrying in firewood. That Daisy. She is so fast. 

I was grateful. She'd been outside for an hour or so. Grateful that she knew to come home, grateful that she barked to be let in, grateful she didn't get hit on the road or attacked by the fox or coyotes. But boy did she smell. Not skunk, but foul from her face and neck. She is a digger and probably was having quite a good time. 

All is well. She slept in her crate, I gave her and her collar a good scrubbing. Hopefully the bed in the crate doesn't smell too bad. I have it outside airing. 

That Daisy.

And just because. These are my two favorite little boys. 

All is well. Sue

Walnut Dyeing, the Lazy Way

 This occurrence of dyeing really was the lazy way. I have three walnut trees in my yard. My son who mows for me insisted that I pick up the fallen walnuts. He says it makes for a very bumpy mow if they are on the ground. Plus last year he got a case of juglone poisoning. 

Anyways, I had picked up most of them and tossed them into the woods. The few that I would find at a later date I just tossed into a bucket to get rid of at a later date. Trouble is, winter came and I didn't empty the bucket. The walnuts have stewed all winter. My bucket was starting to get full of water. So I took some empty milk jugs and filled them with the walnut sludge. 

Yesterday I decided to see what happens if I use that sludge water to dye overly bright wools. I didn't take a before picture. I wish I had. When the wool was wet it had a greenish undertone to it. I dried it overnight by the wood burner and voila, pretty wools. Most of the wool started out as blue or aqua. The two pieces on the far left were a creamy color to start with. As per usual, neither photo of the finished wools are quite right. But I think they turned out great and I certainly will do this again. 

Have a happy Sunday. I have the smoker going and am smoking a pork butt for Sunday dinner. Yum. 

Sue

Rug Camp with Katie Hartner

 Last week Lauren, of Rugs and Pugs, and I went to Pennsylvania for a three day class with Katie Hartner. She was such a a sweet teacher. This was the best camp I've attended for years. The room was a bit crowded, but other than that, all was wonderful. Just wonderful. 

This was my rug. I wanted a soft look and I think I am achieving that goal. Keeping it in only in medium and light values has been more difficult than I thought it would be. The camera shows a few areas that may need to be changed. Like that leaf top right. 

Here are the other folks rugs. 

This woman was punching her rug. She says it works better for her. And it looks just like a regular hooked rug from the front. 

This one is Lauren's rug. It is so cute. 

Today is a better today. The pain is less, I'm definitely more awake. They did pinch my upper lip and I have quite a sore lip. But things are looking up. 

It shouldn't take me much longer to finish up my new rug, just in time for spring. It's almost here. Almost.

Sue

I'm down and out today

I came home to have a procedure on my esophagus. I had surgery on it about  four years ago and scar tissue built up. I'm not feeling great. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Sue

I Have Flowers

 So... My friend Lauren showed that her garden has flowers. I went outside to check my gardens. And, no flowers. 

Then today I looked again, and yay, I too have flowers. It's been warmer. I even saw a couple bees. It's supposed to get up to 70' by the end of the week. 

And even a dandelion. I'll leave it as sometime it's the only flower for the bees.

My sad looking flower garden. But I know in a couple months it will look pretty. 

Looking forward to a good week. 

Sue

Ohio Weather

 It's Ohio for sure. This week we had two days of high winds, I think it got up to 40 mph. Then two days in the 60's. Boy did I like that. Kip and I played outside for a couple hours. He's getting pretty good on his scooter. Then there's today.

They're saying they want to play in the snow. 

Tomorrow I'm headed up to Wool Yankers. It's the closest rug hooking shop to me. I'm hoping to pick up some light brown wool for a class next week. Lauren and I will be heading to Pennsylvania for a three day class with Katie Hartner of Woolley Fox. 

Have a nice weekend. 

Sue

Hit n Miss

 My newest rug is coming right along. The only thing I've had to cut is the black. 

And this is my tote of worms. It still is very full. I thought by making this rugs I would use up most of my worms. I was wrong. The second photo is my worms the day I started. 

I Gave Up

 I gave up trying to control these worms. I tried the bags, I tried piles, I tried solo cups. None of these worked for me. I just kept making a huge mess. So I went through all my bags of worms as they were already separated by color. I picked out the ones I wanted to use. I tossed aside those that were too bright, too multicolored, too plaid. And then I tossed them all into a tote. And this seems to be working. 

I have extras of almost every color, except green. I used a lot of green in the garden rug.

These are some of the ones that didn't get chosen. So therefore, I still have a lot of worms to use up. 

I'm making progress, this is the end of hooking day #2. 

Mac and Lexi will be spending the night. Tomorrow I'll take Mac to Home Depot for his monthly build session. I was going to take them to Maple Sugar Days at Malabar Farm, but the weather is to get much cooler overnight. So maybe next weekend. My favorite thing is the taste testing of the fresh syrup and visiting the store. We always get some maple sugar candies and cotton candy. They take you up the hill to the sugar making cabin in a horse drawn wagon. It makes for a fun day. 

Have a wonderful good weekend.

Sue

How to contain those darn worms

 How?? How? What will be the best way to contain these worms, yet be available for using? I just don't know. I've made such a mess. In reality I made a mess, Daisy made it a big mess. I had these neat piles going, until Daisy ran through them. 

Lauren (Rugs &Pugs) has inspired me to use up some of these worms. By some I mean a whole lot. My worm bin is overflowing. But back to Lauren. She recently has been working on a hit n miss rug. I love it. I also love the idea of using worms. I hopefully will not have to cut anything except the dark outline strips. 

I had found a couple of rug patterns at the thrift store for just a couple bucks. But they are on monks cloth. That's not my favorite foundation to work with. It's too soft, too floppy. I tend to pack the wool in, even more so on monks cloth. And then it bubbles or puckers. 

This piece was "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon". It is now going to be my hit n miss. 

This is the end of day one.

So back to my question. What is the best way to contain these worms???

New Post

 Somebody, I'll mention no names, said it's time for a new post. I was waiting until I got my birds in the garden rug all hooked. And it almost is there. Almost. 

Only one little area left to hook. It's going to be a bunny. I've hooked it twice already and was not happy with the color. I will try again today. In my own garden I also have chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, coyotes, and deer. Oh and ground hogs. There was a coyote in the yard over the weekend. Daisy, the little brown dog, was going nuts and barking at 1 AM. I couldn't get her to stop. So I finally got up to look out the window and what did I see? No, not Santa. But a coyote. 

The snow is almost gone. And so is the firewood. I have enough to last at least another month. Do you think old man winter will be gone by then??

I wanted to take a picture of Henry. He's quite camera shy and won't look at the camera. So I got him talking and playing. And Daisy was trying to hone in on his moment.

My plans for today include hooking that bunny,taking soda cans to be recycled, getting the car washed and attending Alexis's band concert. She plays the clarinet and is in the jazz band and the symphonic band. 

Have a good day. 

Sue

Feeding the Birds

This is a new one here for me, a Northern Flicker.

 It's been so cold I haven't ventured out much. Today we're in a warming trend. It's predicted to be in the 40's by the weekend. It's the first I've fed the birds in a while. Today they got some bread, chopped apple and sunflower seeds. Within minutes I got birds. I placed this feeder so I could see it from my recliner. 

Within 10 minutes I saw tufted titmouse, sparrows, chickadee, then the bigger birds came. The blue jays and blackbirds, flickers and red headed woodpeckers.

And then came this. Get outta here. 

And yes, the amaryllis is the white and pink one. So pretty. 

Enjoy your Sunday. Sue